Art and apparatus for pleating drapes



y 6, 1952 s. M. HOLCOMB 2,595,790

ART AND APPARATUS FOR PLEATING DRAPES Filed April 5, 1949 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 IN V EN TOR.

y 1952 s. M. HOLCOMB 2,595,790

ART AND APPARATUS FOR PLEATING DRAPES Filed April 5, 1949 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN V EN TOR.

\Sy/vg h o/comb A T TO/FNE V 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 S. M. HOLCOMB I INVENQTOR. a M f/a/comb A TTORNE Y ART AND APPARATUS FOR PLEATING DRAPES May 6, 1952 Filed April 5, 1949 Patented May 6, 1952 UNITED ART AND APPARATUS FOR PLEATING' DRAPES Sylvia M. Holcomb, Tacoma, Wash. Application April 5, 1949, Serial No. 85,546

7 Claims. 1

This invention relates to the art of pleating drapery and especially to devices whereby the pleats formed in drapes may be quickly and accurately made.

The objects of my invention are to provide a light, convenient device whereon the cloth to be pleated may be laid and pleats pressed therein; whereby said pleats may be temporarily secured or marked to enable the accurate sewing of the pleats; whereby the pleats may be accurately and uniformly spaced and of uniform depth; whereby the pleats may be properly placed in relation to the edges of the cloth; and whereby all the above may be accomplished with speed and without requiring great skill of the operator. A further object is to provide a device which is simple to make and to use.

I attain these and other objects as will readily be perceived by those familiar with the art, by the devices and arrangements illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of my device as laid out fiat; Fig. 2 is a fragmentary perspective view of the device in use; Fig. 3 is a plan view of the device in use, and drawn to a smaller scale; Fig. 4 is a front elevation thereof; Fig. 5 is a similar view showing the cloth to be pleated laid thereon before the pleats are made therein; and Fig. 6 is a similar view after the pleats have been formed therein.

Identical numerals of reference refer to the same parts throughout the several views.

The art of pleating drapery, as at present practiced, requires considerable skill in measuring the spacing and the depth of the pleats therein, in relation to the width of the fabric to be pleated and in relation to the finished width of the pleated drape, and this is especially true when the drape is of heavy material and is lined with other material. I have, in the following described apparatus, and in the method of using it, succeeded in greatly reducing the time and the skill required to attain a perfect pleating job.

Referring, now, to the drawings, it will be seen that I provide a rectangular table If! on which the work is accomplished, said table it being provided with a heavy padding ll adapted to receive the pins used in laying out the work.

The fabric l2, to form the drape to be pleated,

' is laid out on the table II! so that its edges lie parallel with the table sides and with its upper edge close to the end of the table and parallel thereto. Then this upper edge is lifted and the base member 13 of my apparatus is slipped under it and adjusted so that it is parallel to the end 2 of the cloth. Then the upper corners of the cloth l2 are pinned by' pins It to the padding ll so that they are spaced apart the required width of the finished drape, and the base [3 is adjusted laterally so that the hereinafter described end supporting fingers 15 thereof are equally spaced from the pins 14. Then the cloth I2 is lightly pressed (Fig. 5) between the fingers 15 to roughly distribute the slack in the cloth between the pins l4.

Then the presser member I 6 is lifted and placed on the cloth directly over the base l3, its fingers I! lying between the fingers (5 of the base. This presser member I5 is then evenly pressed down on the cloth between the supporting fingers 15 until all the slack in the cloth is taken up. Thus the cloth is folded in a series of pleats or loops I8 which are equally spaced and are of equal depth (Fig. 6). These loops l8 are then suitably marked either by pinning their throats [9 (Fig. 2) or by a chalk or pencil marks at their throats. The cloth is then removed to the sewing machines and the pleats thus marked are sewed a short distance down at each pin or mark. Thus the drape is completed with the desired pleats incorporated therein.

The base member 13 (Fig. 1) consists of a fiat rectangular body 20 which may be of plywood or, preferably, of a suitable metal and which may be made in two parts, suitably secured together by hinges 2| so that they fold together, back to back, to make them convenient for handling. The'upper surface of the part 241 is provided with a series of upstanding flanges or fingers I5. Each finger 15 (Fig. 2) comprises a thin flat body suitably secured to the base member 20, or integral therewith, and having a forward extending part 22' along its upper edge, leaving an open space 23 below said part 22. Each such finger extends backward several inches from the front line of the base 20 and all are parallel to each other and at right angles to the said front line of the base, and-the extreme ends of the overhanging parts 22 may extend beyond the front edge of the base. A preferred way to make the member [3 is to fold a strip of sheet metal to form the spaced fingers, cutting them to form the overhang, and reenforcing the horizontal parts by a second strip of sheet metal secured thereto.

The presser member It comprises a fiat body, rectangular in general outline but provided with a series of similar inward cuts 24 in its front edge. The cuts 24 extend far into the width of the member I6 and are narrower at their inner ends than at the edge of the part it, and again I I3 and form presser fingers ll between them,

said fingers ll being broadest at the corners 26. The openings 25, above described, are adapted to allow the operator's fingers to grip the fabric 12 on each side of the fingers 15 in order to pin or otherwise mark the throats l9.

The rear edge of the presser member 16 is secured to the front edge of the base member l3 by means of flexible strips of leather or cloth 2?, or otherwise, in such manner that the two parts may be readily moved vertically to press the fabric downward between the fingers [5, it being understood that the corners 26 thereof squeeze the parts of the fabric together as the part [6 moves downward to take up the slack and to form the throat 19. If the member 13 is divided into two parts for convenience in handling, as above stated, the presser l6 may be similarly divided, each part thereof being secured to the corresponding part of the base I3. In folding the above device for stowing away, the parts It are placed over the parts 13 and then the parts 13 are folded back to back. Suitable holes 28 may be provided in all the parts so that they may be hung on a hook or nail, as shown in Fig. 4.

In current practice, the spacing of the fingers of the base member is four-and-a-half inches, and the depth of the pleats varies with the width of the cloth and the width of the finished. drape from one-and-a-half to tWo-and-a-half inches. However, the depths of the pleats in any particular drape are uniform.

It is, of course, to be understood that many variations and modifications of the above-described apparatus may be made without departing from the spirit of my invention as outlined in the appended claims.

Having described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. The art of preparin drape fabric for pleating, comprising securin the corners of the end of the fabric at a predetermined distance apart less than the fabric width; supporting the intervening edge of the fabric on uniformly distributed supports; uniformly and simultaneously pressing downward on the fabric on each side of said supports to take up the slack therein and to form uniform loops in the fabric at said supports; and marking the fabric at each side of the throats of said loops under said supports.

2. The art of preparing drape fabric for pleating, comprisin securing the corners of the end of the fabric at a predetermined distance apart less than the fabric with on a table; loosely supporting the intervening edge of the fabric on uniformly distributed supports, elevated above the table; pressing downward on the fabric simultaneously between and close to the supports to form uniform loops therein wherein said supports are enclosed; and marking the fabric at each side of the throats of said loops under said supports to form guides for permanently securing the two sides of each loop together.

3. The art of preparing drape fabric for pleating comprising, securing the corners of the fabric at a predetermined distance apart less than the fabric width; pressing down on said fabric at uniformly distributed pairs of pressing points, said pressing points in each pair being separated but closely contiguous; supporting the fabric upward between said closely contiguous pressing points, to take up the slack in the fabric and to form loops; and marking the fabric at the throats of the loops and immediately below the supports therein.

4. An article of the class described comprising a base member; a series of uniformly distributed supportin flanges extending upward from said base member and overhanging their connection with said base meniber and adapted to loosely support the edge of the fabric to be pleated; a presser member comprising a single separate body having a series of flat fingers integral therewith and correspondingly spaced with said flanges and extending between said flanges and adapted to be pressed downward simultaneously on the fabric on each side of said flanges, to form loops in the fabric at each support.

5. An article as set forth in claim 4, together with flexible means securing said presser member to said base member.

6. In a device of the class described the combination of a presser member comprising a series of integral presser fingers uniformly distributed along said presser member and closely contiguous to each other, with open space therebetween, said presser member being arranged to be laid on the fabric to be pleated; together with a series of similarly spaced supporting members arranged to pass upward in the space between said pressure fingers to support the fabric and to form loops therein; said loops being adapted to be marked at their throats under said supporting members to form guides for permanently securing the sides of each throat together to form uniformly distributed pleats in the fabric.

'7. The art of preparing drape fabric for pleating, comprising securing the corners of the fabric at a less distance apart than the width of the fabric and equal to the width of the drape when completed; applying to the fabric a plurality of support means for supporting at equally distributed points the edge of the fabric intervening between the secured corners; pressing simultaneously and equally down on the fabric adjacent each side of each support means, thereby forming loops in the fabric, and marking the fabric at the throats of said loops.

SYLVIA M. HOLCOMB.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 140,331 Wilson et al June 29, 1873 601,362 Taylor et a1 Mar. 29, 1898 1,209,904 Swartz Dec. 26, 1916 1,799,575 Wendt Apr. 7, 1931 

